Not that either side deserved to lose
an outstanding game that no neutral would have complained if it had
gone to an extra 30 minutes.

Indeed, the only person who might
wonder at the glory of it all is Pep Guardiola, who takes over at Bayern
next season having to improve on a campaign that, by next week, may
well have ended with a treble.

The only worry from either side
appearing on the grandest stage was that the presence of the other would
bring a degree of caution to proceedings.

After all, the pair had proved beyond doubt this season that they are the best two sides in Europe.

That a thrill-a-minute opening period
ended goalless was a wonder in itself. The reasons were mainly found in
the inspired performances of respective goalkeepers Manuel Neuer and
Roman Weidenfeller, plus the profligacy of Robben.

Big chances: The first-half was the tale of two
goalkeepers with Roman Weidenfeller denying Arjen Robben, and Manuel
Neuer keeping Robert Lewandowski out

In the opening 25 minutes, as the yellow Dortmund shirts buzzed around furiously, Neuer was Bayern's hero.

Germany's number one keeper tipped
over a long-range Robert Lewandowski effort, turned away Jakub
Blaszczykowski's low shot with his feet and also denied Sven Bender.

It was phenomenal stuff from Neuer as
Bayern's stretched defence struggled to cope with the raw pace and
enthusiasm of their Bundesliga rivals.

Slowly though, the contest began to turn.

Controversy: Franck Ribery was lucky to escape punishment when his flailing arm caught Lewandowski in the face

Mario Mandzukic reacted with fury
when Robben went for goal rather than square a pass into his path that
would have left a vacant net to tap into, only for Weidenfeller to make
the first of his series of splendid saves.

From the corner, Weidenfeller tipped
Mandzukic's header onto the crossbar before the excellent Javi Martinez
skimmed a shot just over.

An enthralling contest was
encapsulated in the space of seconds just before the break when
Lewandowski found room inside the Bayern area to squeeze out a shot
which Neuer saved and then immediately launched a counter-attack from.

Breakthrough: Robben finally wriggled free to set up Mario Mandzukic for the opener in the second half

Through a fortunate bounce and Mats
Hummels losing his bearings, Robben ended up face-to-face with
Weidenfeller. Again the Dortmund keeper won the personal duel.

It was impossible to imagine the
goalless stalemate continuing. And even though some of the earlier zip
was missing when the sides reconvened, it did not.

After leading the attacking raid, Robben drifted quietly into space as Franck Ribery assessed his options.

Spot on: Dante smashed into Marco Reus to give Ilkay Gundogan the chance to level with a penalty

One burst of pace later and Ribery
had flicked the ball to his fellow wide-man, drawing Weidenfeller from
his line in desperation.

Mandzukic was in a similar place as before. This time Robben found him and the Croatian put Bayern ahead.

Soon after Dante paid the price for
an ill-advised attempt at a clearance as he succeeded only in kicking
Marco Reus in the stomach. Ilkay Gundogan did the rest from the penalty
spot.

There was no debating the decision
but, as Dante had previously been booked, there was a strong argument
the Brazilian deserved a red card.

Winner: Robben skipped through a clutch of players before rolling the ball home and settling the match

Not that there was any time to debate
the issue as Neven Subotic miraculously got back to hook Muller's shot
off the line before Weidenfeller flung himself in the way of David
Alaba's effort.

Muller was convinced he should have had a penalty when he went down under Subotic's challenge but he didn't get one.

Bastian Schweinsteiger was next to find Weidenfeller getting in the way of one of his shots.

But Bayern need not have worried.
With extra-time looking certain, Ribery managed to force a backheel
through a crowd of defenders inside the Dortmund box.

Robben charged onto it. He kept his
cool to nip round a couple of despairing tackles before rolling the ball
past Weidenfeller to send Munich into ecstasy.

Awash with colour: Fans - famous ones included -
created a stunning atmosphere inside Wembley... and the entertainment
before the match and at half-time was pretty special, too